At my last Lakeland jaunt in February, two of us agreed to celebrate one of our group's "special birthday milestone" by accompanying him up Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m, 19,341ft) via the Rongai route covering 45miles in the process.

Tickets are bought, plans are made and legs and lungs are as ready as they’ll ever be for the 7 day trek. We start on 30 September and hope to be atop by 5 October.

As a unique opportunity, it only seemed right to try and raise some money for charity as a result of our endeavours.

We have actually chosen 3 diverse charities; viz:

Village Education Project Kilimanjaro (VEPK) is dedicated to improving education and reducing rural poverty in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. It aims to give the most needy children in Tanzania a better start in life by providing books and materials and liaising with government officials at all levels. VEPK also run an educational computer/community centre with internet access and a vocational training school. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. VEPK’S mission is to enhance the quality of education, especially for village children, so that future generations become confident and responsible citizens. You can find out more about VEPK at http://www.kiliproject.org.
40% of all that is collected will go to VEPK;

Help the Hospices (http://www.helpthehospices.org.uk) is a charity for hospice care that supports hospices in the UK and across the world to ensure that people of all ages who are reaching the end of their lives and their families are given the most sensitive and expert care in a happy and supportive environment. A quarter of a million patients are cared for by hospices in the UK each year. I cannot even begin to describe my admiration for those involved in such a caring, selfless vocation and they deserve all the support and help we can give them.
40% of all that is collected will go to HtH;

Lakeland Trailhound Welfare - a favourite charity of Martin's. The sport of Hound Trailing is followed mainly in Cumbria, Scottish Borders and Yorkshire and involves training and racing Trail Hounds to chase an aniseed scent across the Cumbrian mountains. This is a very localised sport, kept alive by the local community. However, if hounds do not take to racing or when they reach retirement age (at about 6 years old), the Lakeland Trail Hound Welfare commits to re-homing these beautiful dogs to ensure they enjoy a new life elsewhere and avoid a premature end to their lives. This tiny charity is mainly supported by the local Trail Hound community and would benefit from even the smallest donations to cover transportation, food and, of course, expensive vet bills.
As they are so tiny, donations cannot be made via the Virgin Money Giving website so we will use the offline cash sponsorship to ensure that 20% of the overall total goes to this charity. You can find out more about the Trail Hound Welfare at http://www.trailhoundwelfare.org.uk you can find out more about Hound Trailing at http://www.houndtrailing.org.uk.

I really hope you will sponsor our trek and in doing so you will give us the extra boost we need to make sure our trip is not just a personal ambition realised but also well worth the effort for those who really need our support.

If anyone would kindly like to donate, they can do so online at our VirginMoneyGiving web page by clicking here

Many thanks

Lt Col Alan Earp
Commanding Officer 1/95

"True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders"

Just got back today.
The 3 of us made it to the top of Africa on Friday 5 October at 08:05 (05:05 UK time), a couple of hours after dawn in Tanzania.

[The air has 40% less oxygen at that height so breathing was difficult and the temperature well below Celsius freezing point.]

By that time it had warmed up a bit and I managed to loosen a couple of my 7 top layers, remove gloves and wear the 95th Forage Cap as promised! I must be the only 1/95th to have made this trip!

We were part of a team of 16 people, all attaining the crater rim, supported by 7 excellent, local guides. We are extremely grateful to our guides, cook and porters who supported us and moved the camp from stage to stage.

We were only permitted 20 minutes at the top before commencing a rapid descent.

It was an extremely demanding last stage starting at Kibo Huts camp on Thursday 4 October at 23:30 (20:30 UK time again), attaining the top and getting back to camp by 12:00 (09:00 UK time). We then had a couple of hours to pack our things, grab a bit of rest before a 3 hour fast hike to our final camp lower down. Final day was a 20km trek down to the finish point.

We are keeping the Charity donation site open until the end of the month. Please note that we have all paid our own way on this venture and all money donated will go to the charities. Our sincere thanks to all who have donated and those that feel inspired to donate in the remaining time.

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Lt Col Alan Earp
Commanding Officer 1/95

"True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders"